One Month - Buyers Remorse?

It's been a little over a month now that I've had 'the rig' and I'm pleased to say that buyers remorse hasn't set in. It might be because it was actually a few months ago now that I bought all the gear, or it may be that I'm still getting to grips with the whole setup.

Anyway, like all good projects it's never finished, so this is Rig Evo, or Stage I tune, or whatever bullshiat that we like to call bolting things on to improve (what generally broke anyway).

Here's a rundown of what I've done to change things up a bit...

The standard Fanatec knobs are OK. But the cylindrical one looks like a low earth orbit resupply ship and is about the same size. And the traditional round knob has a rubber band around it of some sort - you'll see them in product shots. Thankfully the shaft (way too much knob/shaft words, sorry profanity filters) is standard fare for car parts. And so a happy half hour lining up this Sparco thing and life is better. I'd prefer a smooth one (not using that word again), but in terms of size, weight and general feel, that'll do for some time I think. Note to buyers, this would be huge on a car though - having similar, but smaller and smoother on my MX5, vicar.

I've posted this elsewhere as a hilarious 'see the bottle of red' holder. But in reality, this is plain and simple a water holder. It is ace. I drink plenty of fluid through my night's gaming thanks to this. The engineering of it is pleasing too....

I bought a metal (and of course black) holder and a couple of bottles from the local store, drilled out the mounting holes, ground down two T-slot bolts (they were too proud for the bottle), and fitted. 

And it works well, it's not in my line of sight, is close enough to reach without being in the way, and without a bottle it is unobtrusive enough to not detract from what is surely a piece of art.

As an aside, I 'stole' a quick-release clippy thing from the pedals (cos there's nothing quick about releasing them) and used it as a hook for my headset, perfect actually. And before I'm lambasted about cheap headsets, this is voice-only and has the great feature of sitting away from one's ear, very important when it's 30.c+ in the room with the air-con on.

Lumbar support is key in this setup. The seat doesn't tilt quite far enough back to support my thighs. It's comfortable enough, but early on I grabbed a cushion from around the house to push my kidneys back to where they should be in the scheme of me. But it was some dour checked affair. 

Then I found this online. It is a thing of beauty and really does sit well in the whole setup. And if you look closely (i.e. inside) you'll see the same house cushion doing its thing. Happy days.

Not so much a new thing, but an adjusted thing, and worth noting for those with these pedals and without simian proportions in arm and leg.

Talking to a fellow TrackRacer owner they mounted the hinges (the silver bit) on the main rail and did away with the uprights. I like this idea, but to do so would mean moving the diagonal supports back further towards the seat - and as you can see, that's not happening.

The solution, and maybe when a mate is around... is to spin the pedal plate by 180 degrees, so they're at the bottom of the plate then I can move the whole thing out away from the seat. The challenge there is that then the setup will be getting too close to Big Rig ergonomics, not Sim Rig. Hmmm. I remain less than enamoured with the pedal setup, but for now it works OK and is comfortable enough.

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Next? I'm waiting on a handbrake, and as this is a no expense spared build, I've spared no expense at all and bought damn near the cheapest one I could find...

Before I fit this though I'm thinking I'll swap the cheap sponge grip for something more in keeping with the setup - that'll be a case of removing the brake shaft where the two vertically aligned bolts connect it and replace with a length of old bike handlebar (I have plenty). This will allow me to then pick any number of quality grips. Quality.

Certainly, I'll be pulling this apart to get a good look at how it works and see if there are any corners I can uncut in its relatively cheap build.

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And that's it. I was tempted by the Fanatec McLaren V2 rim that's recently been released, but my racing is all sorts of cars in a single night, so it would be a constant switching of rims. And yes, I have the full quick release shenanigans, it's just not "OMG I'm on fire" quick. So my current rim is fine, very fine in fact, and for the money it all costs, bloody marvellously fine for sure.

New Sim Gear - TrackRacer Fanatec Tears

There's no easy way to say this, I've spent a small fortune on my racing.

What's more, I've limited my options somewhat, with no more PS4 racing (*sniff*). Actually, I'm not so worried about that - the games I rated on there, PCars2 and Assetto Corsa are both equally fine on PC, and the only way I'm going to miss GT Shart is if I take a shot at it.

Rollback to mid-year 2020, the year I suddenly had a lot more free time and a one-time paycheck that would cover a fairly fancy car... and like many, I went through the mill. Towards the end of the year I got myself together, found some work and more importantly got fed up with my G29's pedals.

I'll do an end-of-life review for my old G29, it won't be pretty not least as in the years I owned it I bought at least three of them. The final straw was the never-ending issues with throttle potentiometers, culminating with me angle grinding most of the casing out and like using easy start on some old banger, spraying contact cleaner in before every race night.

From there it wasn't a hard stretch to get where I ended up, I recommend using this list (without prices) on your other half to justify what's close on 1/2 a ton of gaming gear in the living room...

1. Have a clearly inferior product.
2. Justify new pedals that don't rely on potentiometers... that's the Fanatec V3 BTW.
3. As you're doing new pedals, you need a new wheel.
4. As you're doing Fanatec, might as well be them.
5. You're only doing this once, so get a direct drive - DD1 < Cheaper than the DD2!
6. You need a wheel. Any will do, but I opted for a Fanatec Porsche 918 rim, as I race sports and historic more than GT. Glad I did.
7. Now you've got a DD wheel you need to mount it. TrackRacer's TR8020 is reasonably priced (LOL) and more to the point very configurable and extendable into the future.
8. Oh yes, almost forgot... (use those words), I'll need a H pattern and sequential, Fanatec does a single unit for that, so that's a saving too!

That's how I ended up waiting for many boxes to arrive that had, all up:

• TrackRacer TR8020 frame
• TrackRacer mouse plate add-on
• TrackRacer digital dash add-on
• Fanatec DD1 base
• Fanatec Clubsport V3 pedals
• Fanatec Porsche 918 rim
• Fanatec H pattern shifter.

And a serious build exercise, which I'll dig into below. Before that, a very brief summary of what I've learnt through the build experience.

Must Do's:

I watched a review build on the TR8020, and they recommended getting a measuring/square tool thing, I'm sure there's a proper name for it, whatever. Anyway, these were essential tools:

The tape measure is a no-brainer. The socket drive with Allen key adapter was a godsend in the end (so many bolts!), the cutters are to nibble tabs off brackets (you're instructed to) and the blue thing is the fancy measuring thing - also highly important.

Another must do is to watch a few youtube vids of the build, there are a few out there including the official '10min quick start guide'. That's genius, as there is nothing quick about this build other than the realisation that it's going to take a lot of time.

Like me, you'll probably have a cold sweat moment over the lack of instructions. You can find them on the TrackRacer site. They're not great. 

My 'rig' doesn't look like the one in the picture.

In fact, I don't think it ever could. The instructions aren't for the wheel clamp I have (for the DD1) and I struggle to see how the pedal plate lines up. The must-do out of all this - don't be afraid to set the frame to suit your situation.

Wheels... I bought wheels to move it around. In fact, I bought two sets, and have six wheels on my rig (EuroTruck anyone?) to spread the weight a bit. I'm glad I bought that many. And I can tell you I also hate those wheels. I must have fitted them half a dozen times - lining up stuff and making sure the spacer is in the right place. The advice here - experiment with one until it spins freely when mounted to its plate. Did I mention using a ratchet Allen key... 

The last must-do. Learn to dislike the pedal plate set up with a passion. It's the last thing in the instructions... there's a light at the end of the tunnel. But it's a train coming the other way and it's the 'Over-engineering express' train, destination compromise via complex-city. I'll explain below.

The Build:

First post of my new sim-rig. Rate my sim rower!

Was still laughing at this point...

For posterity, this is the build space. Basically, I emptied out the TV room and made space on one side. The rig is on wheels so I roll it across on race (every) night.

Little wins. I have a USB switch box, which allows me to flick headset and keyboard between PC and PS4 Pro. It used to flop around in front of a TV cabinet. No more, in fact, the cabinet is no more either...

Part of the exercise was to remove the old TV cabinet. Over a decade of fluff sat behind there along with a myriad of cables and 'too hard' to remove stuff. 

Yes, that's twin subs, one active, one passive, both romp.

All this got pulled out from the old TV cabinet and behind. Colin Chapman would be proud.

Obligatory box shot. F'ing heavy box shot for that matter.

This was the first box I opened, it is the dash holder - I have a 7" digital dash (old tablet).

This is when I realised that the TR8020 is over-engineered - somewhere there's an armoured car missing a side plate...

Built. I didn't use it like this in the end. The bottom holder is too big for a smaller keyboard. And the top one... well I took an angle grinder to that to get plug space. 

Finally, the waldo arm affair... no. I just used one and some angle clamps to fit it to the frame, it's much simpler and not a meter away from me!

At this point I started opening boxes. Some bags are labelled some are not.

Scaffolding. Some covered, some not. It's a very inconsistent kit.

Manufacturing fail. The DD1 clamp was delivered with paint damage. I'm not surprised, I'm not certain but I think the paint is a black mist that the parts are passed through. You do need to be careful or you're going to have a beater of a rig...

What makes up for the lack of paint is the amount of steel involved. This is for the DD1.

And it's all heavy-duty stuff. 

Wheels. I hate you. I'm glad I have you. You hate me.

On a side note, if you're building this in your living room and you don't have these, good luck.

The amount of wheeling around I did as I worked on the frame, I'm not sure I could have built it without them. Hateful things. Also, brakes, why? No one has a slope in their living room!

The old adage, measure twice cut once is true.

The new adage, measure twice, fit thrice.

Fitting seat rails - measure the bejesus out of these or they won't work.

Also, note that you'll need to move them again anyway when you realise you've maxed adjustment after you've fitted the pedals. Measure twice fit thrice...

This is in fact a happy shot. For some reason fitting the wheel and chair felt like I was nearing the end of the build.

I wasn't.

In true over-engineering style, the shifter plate is on a heavy-duty adjuster plate. I'm tempted to pull that off and have it direct to the 8020 bar that's fitted. It doesn't wobble noticeably in use, but certainly, there is leverage to be had and feel in time.

Fitting (for the fist time) the pedal plate.

You become a man fitting these (several times).

I looked round and all the bits were nearly all used up. Amazing, and very satisfying, somewhat clouded by the tears of drained mojo (this was night three).

Fitted. Note that this is not the final form, I moved it all as the pedals were too high. The adjustment gubbins on the plate is tosh in my opinion. I'm sure it works, and it does allow for a shorter main frame. Except that really you're not going to be altering this very often. I'd have preferred a basic 8020 T-slot affair.

OMG it's actually built

Final form. Note that the pedal plate is now lower where it hinges. 

That was a monumental effort to do. I also had to move the uprights (angles means lower is further away) and only just managed to get the diagonal parts to fit. There's no more adjustment.

In fact, I think at some point I'll buy some T-slot bars and convert to something altogether easier to setup. 

The mouse mat is fitted too, not sure if that's how it's supposed to be done, I think possibly not (as I used dash parts), but it's perfect there like that and only a minor coincidence that beer will sit on there...

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And that's it. Q&A Time:

Q: Would I do it again.

A: Not without someone to help, it was hard to hold, measure and tighten at the same time.

Q: Buyers remorse then?

A: Not at all. I skip past the cost and just enjoy driving so much more now.

Q: Comfortable?

A: Somewhat. When the pedals were too high it really wasn't. Lowering them and putting a thin cushion (not some epic lumbar roll) behind my lower back helps. And my back is stuffed from a few things. So I'd say ultimately yes.

Q: Do anything different in the build?

A: I'd do the base frame, then pedals then seat. Fit my pedals and get them right before the wheel frame etc. In this way, I think adjustment could have been easier to manage.

Q: Recommendations to TrackRacer?

1. The above point for the pedals. 

2. Sell a six-wheel kit, not four. 

3. Re-design the button/dash setup, it's too heavy and has no cable portholes. 

4. Not sure any picture of a build I've seen works ergonomically. I'm not a freak (mostly) but my rig does not look like others with the pedals off out into the distance.

5. Pre-assemble the seat slider frame - it's the same for everyone and that's complexity that can be avoided.

Q: Of the Fanatec gear

A: All awesome, another post some time into the future...

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And that's it for this post, a bit like finishing the build, huge, and ultimately something you stare at and wonder why you did it in the first place...

More posts on usage soon I'm sure.

See the light

I think I've established in earlier posts that I'm a cheapskate.
And such is life imitating art I'm in a situation that involves me saving my pennies (cents apparently) and that means old car remains new car for some time.

And much like me it's got a few KMs on the clock now and whilst it functions fine it's a bit wobbly and parts are starting to fail. Unlike me, it's possible to swap stuff out. I'll not bore you with the garage trip today to try and tune out the "It's like an old dryer on spin cycle" handling that it has developed at what I consider low speeds.

No. This post is the apoplectic anger of fitting a new bulb. It's hard enough trying to pull apart a modern car to fit a bulb. I'm no vet, but I reckon I was up to my elbow in my car, and that's not including the 180.deg bend I had to put into my wrist as my arm seemed to be too long and passed the bulb 'pit'. The clips are different on every car, and once my minor panic of removing the entire light fitting was over I was good to go with the 'hard way'.

But what made it worse, far, far worse was the packaging for my discount bulbs...
These in fact:

Plus 60 (...minutes to get into the packaging)

They're not fancy. Not blue, green, red or anything other than normal. They don't discharge in an intensely high way. They are better than standard (of course) but I doubt it.

Link if you're interested here.

The packaging though... Clearly, DaVinci had the code to open this. I on the other hand had a screwdriver, pliers and eventually some safety glasses.
You see these lights are entombed in tough brittle clear plastic, in places two layers of the 2mm thick stuff. It was damn near bulletproof frankly.
It wasn't old git proof though... Half an hour I spent getting into this packaging, with shards of plastic flying off all over the place. It really was a war zone as I tried to get into f'ing thing.

It's worse as you're not supposed to touch the bulb too, so they're loose(ish) in this hard casing, and as you work you through the layers to get them like some miner who's seen the diamond but needs to get through 3metres of granite you run the risk of ruining them with the excavations.

Finally I had them free. Then, then the fun started of traversing the front of the car "not touching the bulb" (tm).

There surely is an easier and cheaper way to package these please Repco.

Porsche Carrer Cup Bathurst Race Report

We decided to race online in a proper racing league race. Wins and losses, mostly losses if I'm honest.
What remains is the decomposition as a record for posterity.

The race, if you can watch the entire hour, is here:

Pre-Race

Setup for this car is tricky, mostly as there's not a whole lot to be done to it, and what's more, with no traction control it's a bit of a beast to drive consistently to be honest. Nevertheless, time was spent...

I just wasn't fast in this car. Not even close actually, Evan was a solid 4 seconds a lap faster and the crazy folks were nearly 10. 

The challenge really was outright grip, I couldn't seem to get the car to grip. It rolled down to two issues. Mostly me but also tuning...

A quick search through the Interweb and there's either no-one posting setups or they're hiding them until after the race. I suspect the former, nevertheless, I found a setup for Silverstone, that'll do...

Checking it out, it wasn't too bad, I had to adjust some of it to make it symmetrical - figuring the fine tunning like that would come later, it never did, and I think it really doesn't need it at Bathurst anyway...

This got me into consistent 2:10 lap times, essentially 2 seconds better, which was certainly better than I was getting.

Happy with the setup being right(ish) for me I settled in for some testing sessions. Things were going well enough, 2:10 and occasional 2:09 was solid for me, happy days. 

Though I did recall talk of tyre pressures being key in this game - a read up online and blimey, I've been running super under-inflated. This means an uneven contact patch at best and all sorts of deformation woes (and punctures) at worst.

Adding more air and getting the tyres to be evenly inflated really helped.

And so it was, a change to that, and I was into solid 2:09's and occasional 2:08's. Awesome. I messed with brakes next. Adding a diagnostics page to my sim dash to see brake temps. Cool... so I changed them to the over the top brakes to really give me some stopping power. 

This worked a treat. With ABS on low it meant that I could really hammer the car into the corners and the brakes and tyres were set right and at the right temps - 20mins of practice and all good, this is key in the race report...

My final hot lap session netted me a 2:07.8 - this isn't far off the fastest I've ever driven around Bathurst in any car, super pleased and given it was with a 1/4 tank of fuel I reckoned I had a chance to be at least with the pack if not outright competitive. 

I think though that what got me the final second or more was, in fact, that I slowed down and concentrated on smooth corning and throttle maintenance - the keeping of some gas on around the corner.

The comment in a recent article that racing is a series of drag races down the straights has really stuck with me - no one can pass you in a corner if you take a spot-on line (or at least a lot harder) and then if you're set for the next straight you're in a good place to challenge and be faster.

Practice & Qualifying

First issue, Evan, my racing team-mate didn't make it. We suspect SteamID issues, I also think it was highly suspect that out of 42 entrants in the race only 25 made it in. I think ACC configs somewhere limited the server numbers - not that we'll ever know! Certainly, organisers tried a restart of the servers to no avail. 

I had a few laps in free practice, but didn't fare too well. No big crashes, but at 4am it's hard to be consistent (unless snoring). Track temp was woefully cold, but in the race pre-chat there was talk of it being warmer. I assumed that the track was going to warm up, so I left my tyres as they were. Big mistake.

Qualifying - yeah, a 2:12. 5 seconds off my best, and I blame a. trying too hard, b. tyres that never warmed up (quite literally still blue) and c. me trying to avoid everyone and everything, so ending up without a clean lap.

So at the very back. I was OK with this as it meant that first lap carnage (surely) wasn't going to involve me. I'd be able to tip-toe past half the field, let the track warm up and like a strategic genius I'd finish top 10 easily. I'll skip past the lead car doing a 2:02 and most of the field being not far behind...

The Race

Lots of lessons learned in this race, given I'm not going to give a blow by blow account of the entire race (fading already) I'll just list up what went well and mostly, what went not so well...

• The strategy was fairly solid - a 1/3,2/3 with the pit stop around 20mins to fuel to the end. The assumption being that anything that happens in the race will happen early on. I was expecting 40 racers after all. I elected not to change this strategy with fewer runners, it was still valid.
• First lap carnage didn't happen. In fact, everyone trundled round for the first lap, I almost overtook a few cars, but really on cold tyres not a smart move. The result, no places made through attrition.
• A few bumps and scrapes early on, nothing too serious. I attribute this to ice-cold tyres. Track temp wasn't far of 10.c lower than I was used to.
• Minor scape and light damage around 18mins in. I collected all the walls across the top. Luckily I recovered and decided to wait for a lap to pit in. This was a smart move as although rattled and a bit slower I pitted in whilst the leaders lapped me. Safest for all!
• Position now was around 19. I was happy with that. Though mostly that was folks dropping off or having big crashes and pitting in.
• And then not so good strategy... I didn't notice that I had to opt to change disks and pads. I assumed they were going to be changed. And being on the extreme set I had to change them...
• More racing and frankly the car wasn't at all nice to drive. I think a combination of poor brake performance, flat-spotted tyres (didn't know you could do this with ABS) and general race stress meant I was lapping around 2:12. Not optimal, but really, I was experiencing pretty severe juddering through the wheel, something wasn't right.
• Soon after the stop the disk wear indicator lit up. Uh oh. Then the brakes started to shine yellow into big stops. Braking was becoming a suggestion...
• About 15mins later (I think just after halfway) I collected the wall badly through the dipper. This didn't do me any favours clearly. I will say by now the car was nearly impossible to drive. The decision on staying out and getting to the end and pitting in to remedy was made for me.
• Down conrod straight and into the chase (biggest stop of the lot) my brakes faded completely, the tire pressures spiked (30psi+, should be 27.6psi) and it all went horribly wrong. I learned then that ACC has fade, tyre grip degradation, and a suitable lack of handling as a result. With my foot to the floor on the brake pedal I went straight on. Thankfully I'd been tip-toeing around so didn't collect anything or anyone.
• And then I pitted in. I checked and ensured that my brakes were swapped. The tyres were swapped too, but pressures are hard to adjust in the remaining time, and indeed, what to set them to... The stop was 2mins, not bad considering I had big damage. But nearly a lap for the leaders.  For bonus grief I forgot to deselect fuel being added, so I had over 70L, and needed about 20L.
• Rejoin was just over 20mins to go and I think 21st place.
• From there it was a fairly standard race, though the juddering in the corners remained. I read up on carcass (tyres) deformation when they're cold and attribute most of the weird handling to that. The car skipped and juddered on every corner, it wasn't fun to drive that was for sure.
• Ultimately I think I finished in 21st place. Probably the last of the runners. I'll take that as in terms of setup for the race I missed the mark and the rest of the race was managing that consequence.

Takeouts

1. Tyre pressures are critical. If they're not right pit in.
2. Check the track time - I never noticed it was afternoon till Evan pointed it out. The track was never going to warm up.
3. Brakes. Change them. And probably don't race on what is a test pad or something.
4. Preparation is key. This I did right, pre-race practice and testing set me up for success. Mostly.

Would I race again? Sure I would. I'd be happier in a slower class for now as it's a very different thing to race a 1-hour race to what we normally do. And I'll be honest, I'm looking forward to GT4 racing in ACC. I think it may be closer to what I'm capable of - being an "AM" driver as I am...

And finally a huge shout out to TheSimGrid: https://www.thesimgrid.com/

This is the group that I raced with, lots of effort from everyone, too many to mention, but certainly, if the intent is to bring this sort of racing to enthusiasts then they're onto a winner.

Bonus content...

The results are in, and yes I had a 21st place, but the other non-runners are counted, so I was mid-field! Let the record stand that I finished mid-field!!! Ha.

https://www.thesimgrid.com/championships/69/standings

Not sure when I'll see you again my friend. I've enjoyed driving you, less so being a passenger into the chase and I promise to sort the pressures out next time!

Grid just Grid but the new just Grid not Grid Autosport or Grid 2 just Grid the newer one. Grid

Why the heck did they call it Grid.
Grid Redux or Gridier or Grid 3 Clone of the Time Attack. Anything - as searching for Grid to watch pre-purchase videos is a mix of all the Grids that there is, it's so confusing.

What's also confusing is my recent Grid purchase. Having tried the demo on PS4 and driving less than half a lap of "drop in and drive" resulting in my general hate of the game I've ended up with it on PC. I do have a reason though!!

As is the way with wet Sunday afternoons, the desire to have new things, the funds to have old things and the patience of an old dog waiting on couch time, I found myself pondering what Grid Autosport (yes that one) would be like on a current-gen PC. I used to like Grid Autosport, as a learned friend said, it was great elbows out racing. Certainly not the physics fest of current sims, but enough predictability to make it a good racing game - and surprising career depth. I had unfinished business...

So a trip to Steam and I was about to pull the pin on my sub $8 purchase (high roller that I am) when I noticed for $17 I could have Autosport and new Grid. Why not... it looks gorgeous and one never knows. From cart to library was as easy as it ever is.

I'll start this review with why I hated it on PS4, as a demo...

The thing with new games is that they are there to excite you and draw you in within the first few minutes. This is often with an opening cut scene to get you in the mood, and it's no different with Grid - just with Grid you can't skip it and it's way too long. In this day and age where everything needs an ad break I felt they were trying too hard to show just all the things the game can do from 'interesting angles', like a kid who's just got the latest nintenbikeformer thing and is busy showing grandpa just how and what it is. Stop already, I get it. But I couldn't, and that actually soured me straight away. And it got worse, from the cut movie (not scene, movie) it went straight to race. And not just on the line but mid second lap, chase cam, every assist on, auto gearbox the lot. There's a lot going on anyway as it's quite pop-art in its approach, so that plus dropping me into a setup that was far from what I wanted made the start possibly the worst introduction to a game I've ever played, and that's including half-hour Skyrim loading times on a PS3.

I managed less than a lap of driving what I can only assume is a rear steer converted corvette with overly pimped imagery and sounds. It was not for me. Demo deleted.

And so I had low hopes for the PC version, after all the current approach is to have PC and Console games much the same, and it certainly is - navigation of the menus for example is with the G29 controls (mouse optional).

But to gaming... what was it like?

Yep, the same cut scene, but maybe the year or so since I saw it, or the fact I knew it would end has tempered my temper, so I dutifully sat through it (pressing every. single. key) and dropped into the race. And then I pressed escape. Two things... you can restart (yay) and you can also turn off most of the crap that makes it little more than hotwheels* on one of those orange track things that we all had (*I had matchbox, superior in every way, except to siku).
I turned down ABS to three, turned down to two the traction control and ummed and ahhed over the stability control but left it at one. I figured this game was designed with that lot turned on, so why not embrace it. I'm glad I did.
I still am not a fan of the "drop into the race" start to racing games or any games for that matter. I want to learn the controls, spend time checking out what's what before I start and generally wouldn't choose to launch without any time to figure out setup. Still, I persevered and it wasn't all bad. I won two of the insta-races and placed third in NASCAR as I punted P2 and couldn't get the draft back to catch up in the final lap. I had enjoyed it enough to carry on!

The things I like...
It actually drives OK. It's not a constant drift fest in the cars. I bought a Porsche GT2 thing, think GT3, and it went well. Very well in fact. It sounded amazing and I'm running "WQHD" (2560x1440) on ultra at a locked 60fps and it looks amazing, and stable at that FPS too.
Handling is certainly relaxed, and generally you can get away with all sorts. But it's not a sim, and really not even a simcade - which is the copout that most devs make when they fluff the handling and can't get it back in a patch. I'm not sure if there was a physics update for the game that made it to the PC but it's certainly tamer in the tail than I remember. Enjoyable in fact I am pleased to say.
Drifting is still there, but it's more an "oh sh*t" moment followed by some tail out action and feeling like a hero. This is what the game is about, making you feel like a driving genius.

So I did some custom races. You have to buy the car as although there are loan cars they're not the Porsche and you lose 10% of your winnings. Once you have the car though, a few races and you've paid for the cheaper cars at least. And so it was, Suzuka, Brands, Red Bull Ring and some city race and I'd covered the cost of my fancy Porsche. And they were easy races - I'm going to have to put the AI up to hard for sure, hopefully that'll give more credits too as I can see it being a grind to get the more expensive cars.

The things I don't like...
I'll skip past this not being a sim, it has no intention of being one, lovely as it looks it's just not that.
I don't like the career menu format. Certainly, it's all a bit better since the updates (three 'seasons' added) and without that it would have been a shell of a game. But I do like the PCars2 approach of pick a car and race and go, though apparently that's changing on PCars3 - much contention over that release though.
I don't like the never-ending "perfect corner" pop-ups, again they can be turned off, but really stop trying too hard to make this outrun, I know it's a perfect corner as I'm a perfect driver. Mostly.
I am in fact sitting here wondering what I don't like about the game, it is what it is and doesn't pretend to be anything else.
Ah yes... my pet hate... If you're going to implement H pattern support, let me use one or the other in-race, don't make me go to options to change it. Driveclub did this oh so well, and RFactor2 does it too if you have auto clutch (heresy!). I can use either paddles or H pattern to shift. In fact, Assetto Corsa took it to the next level with forced shifter use on specific cars, that's awesome, and surely not hard as you're supporting the device anyway. It wasn't too bad last night when racing apart from racing some old classics, which surely are H pattern. They felt awkward.

What about online?
I had a look, two servers in our antipodean area with under ten racers across both servers. Poor show.
Mind you, I can create a session and fill it with AI and invite a friend or two (so all of them) to race. Not sure how long the Grid servers will bother to stay up though, it's not been the most successful of games after all.

Overall...
Well worth the Steam sale price, even on its own (I've not installed Autosport yet!).
I've not bothered with the season add-ons. I had a look at the reveal videos and really the only one I like the look of is the hot hatch one (the first one), the other two are exotica road cars. The add-on tracks and other updates are all added in anyway so I'm going to wait and see, I have another fortnight of this game before the sale ends.
And I think that in a fortnight I'll be done with this game other than occasional nostalgia, for two reasons, 1. It doesn't have replay depth that I can see, just not enough post-career, and 2. I'm probably going to play it to death in the next few weeks as it's actually good fun.

And that's it - if you set your expectations low enough you'll always be pleasantly surprised!

Budget Sim Racing

If you're like me you're broke. Or at least have to avoid checking out fancy multi-thousand dollar 'sim rigs' cos why spend it on the sim when there's a car begging for a new set of pads.

So it's budget time, and I suppose in that space it's cheap shoes - the saying goes buy expensive shoes as they wear out less than cheap ones and ultimately will cost less in the long run (just noticed the pun!). The challenge is to be able to afford expensive shoes upfront. Barefoot it is then.

And so it is that I came to own three G29s in the space of around two years and vowed to never buy another one (one was a warranty swap in fairness). Simply put, anything that's electrical and has contact points is a cheap point of failure. For me, it was the buttons on the wheel and twice pedal pot woes - albeit once self-inflicted (very thin wires inside it turns out).

But this one has lasted - and this the journey I'd like to share, one of customisation on a budget that's ended up with an excellent experience to say the least, and super cheap. I'll go through this in a bit of instruction, a few links and generally share my journey, I hope it helps.

Firstly, the approach - for me enjoying driving is key, and that's about enjoying the sensory touchpoints - it has to sound good, feel good, smell good and probably taste good if that's possible. And the one that's highly subjective, has to look good, but not necessarily in an "I spent a fortune on this" way, no, more an "It's usable and enhances the experience" sort of way. Function over form if you will.

It started with the wheel stand, this one in fact:

It is terrible.
Name and shame, it's actually a Fanatec (yeah man, a Fanatec rig, heh), which goes to show you can swing your manufacturing genius too far to one end of the spectrum, and that's the far end from this to be clear.
The issue, and it's twofold - is firstly as you'll know from elementary maths, is that the hinge at the bottom is a long way away on a lever from the steering wheel - and the clamp thing at the bottom is never ever going to cope with long term abuse on a wheel up top, and it didn't. The second issue is that the pedals just don't sit on the stand, it's polished aluminum for sure (and looks nice) but you'll soon be collecting your pedal box from the carpet with this. There is a sneaky third issue - it's not very heavy, it's OK for standard pedals but if, like me, you awake (quite literally) as you crest the curb at the end of the Mulsanne straight you'll be heavy on the brakes from time to time. This moves the unit.

The solution...
First, Isambard Kingdom Brunel would be proud, build a triangle. So that's what I did.
I bought a length of threaded rod from the local hardware shop (always, always Bunnings) and then fashioned ways to attach it top and bottom. I was going to weld something, but in fact, using wingnuts means I can adjust it - albeit not needing too very often.

It looks something like this:

It doesn't interfere with feet at all, and in fact, became a very handy way to route the myriad of cables up from the floor, and in later pics, you'll see I mounted (cable tied) the power pack on the sled bit at the bottom too. It's still cable mayhem on the floor, but at least my cockpit is clean - always clean your cockpit gentlemen.
This solution is stiff enough that the wheel moves not at all, but has enough give that it'll be the bit that breaks if something does happen, if it's possible to roll a sim in real life I suppose...

Next was pedals - I'll not post the pics here, they're not exciting, but check your pedals for a threaded hole underneath, they'll likely have one. Then it's a matter of fashioning a length of metal to make the clamp. Be careful though - if you clamp down too tight the top casing bends in and cracks - I solved this (on the second set) by using the same material across the top too - so basically the metal does the clamping. You might see it in later pics.

Next, the upgrade of the pedals. If you've not done the GTEye thing for your pedals then I heartily recommend it - just be careful not to catch a (very thin) wire in the casing as that kills them I know...
These are they:

Thrilling.

The final upgrade on the pedals is probably the most important, behold:

This simple (post-race) addition stops the accumulated fluff of household pets from dropping in and carefully wrapping itself around the exposed potentiometers of the pedals. The lesson learned, every so often I spray contact cleaner in there and also a can of air to buff the fluff out basically. Bad design by Logitech frankly.

So to the gears.
There's not really too much wrong with the Logitech gearbox, it's a bit limp but as a H pattern it works OK. But I wanted better feeling in the gears.

So I bought this kit from 3DRap:

Yes, initially it was Strong V2, but it's calmed down now I think. Mostly it's a satisfying snick into gear. First has become a bit softer. It's a non-intrusive change though, so I can replace or remove easily enough. What does it look like on the wheel? Well, err, that is to say I didn't stop there.
No, being the closet Ferrari fan I also bought the gated shifter add-on as well as a metal top plate... and then I bought (more recently) a metal shifter. Originally for my car as a replacement, I didn't like it there. But it works very well indeed on my 'rig'. I can't stress enough the good feeling of a metal knob to fettle through the gears.

It is a thing of beauty to use I must say. Fun times.
And did I stop there? Nope.

I was looking at button boxes, but blimey they're pricy, and they're limited in what they can do - it's a one-trick pony basically. But I happened to be clearing out the tat cupboard (one of them at least, and by cupboard think room) and came across an old tablet. I'd been playing with the idea of a raspberry pi and making that into a touch screen device, but that really is hard and I think the hobby is in the making it, not the using it which is what I wanted.
Enter Stryder. Stryder-IT is some chap who's made an entire touch screen ecosystem for sim racing. It's amazing frankly.
So from a button box, I've gone to full sim dash on the side, with shift lights and lap times the lot. You need to go have a look for yourself - it works on android phones (the best ones) and allows multiple screens per game.

I've done a few of my own in fact:

Assetto Corsa - all the basics

Project Cars 2 - Handy addition to wheel

Rfactor2 - Pit In controls plus essentials

These are awesome, as are some of the amazing designs done by others, all free with the very reasonably priced pro version (<$20).

The tablet itself is so out of date it won't update the O/S anymore and is crazy slow for all but this. I think it's well over five years old. I've left it plugged into the PC to make sure it's charged all the time, and in fact may remove the battery too as don't want battery failure - this thing is more dear to me than any other device I've owned given its current service!

And the installation is like this:

The TV does look a mile away, but it's 65" and not so bad. All a matter of perspective!

And there it all is. But remember I said the stand was too light - yeah, fixed that for sure with all this bolt-on stuff. I rarely notice any carpet creep in the night, even with the stiffer pedals.

Total cost?

One should never price a hobby, so here's the list of bits;

• Wheel - G29. Prices vary frankly - don't buy second hand, they fail gradually and you'll buy scrap.
• GTEye upgrade - I did all three springs. Plus an afternoon carefully fitting them (the second time).
• Fanatec stand - get something else, or get this and build the triangle. Useless without.
• 3DRap shifter upgrade - I thought it was worth it. Necessary if you're putting a metal shift knob on (weighted throw), which is essential now I've done it.
• Metal knob - Get onto eBay. Consider how you're going to fasten it to the shift lever, Logitech's isn't standard, so pull it apart and have a look.
• Sim Dash - get onto eBay, buy the cheapest decent-sized android WiFi tablet you can buy, and install the Stryder-IT dash, even for PS4 it'll work (Assetto and PCars, not GT Shart).

Do I like my solution? Not sure. I like that I've done it, but offer me a proper rig with seat and I'll change in a heartbeat. I'd still have the dash, but could forgo the shifter - actually I'd buy a proper metal shifter and avoid using it on the PS4 I think. In fact, I may even still do that - I feel the shifter won't age well.

And I was thinking of getting a fancy G29 aftermarket wheel, something like this from https://mvhstudios.co.uk/ in fact:

I am in fact still tempted, but then I like driving old cars and this very much is not a quick release solution. I think an upgrade to Thrustmaster, or save many pennies and Fanatec is the way forward. We'll see!

Links to the places I went to buy stuff:

• https://www.3drap.it/
• https://www.stryder-it.de/simdashboard/
• https://www.gamesmen.com.au/rennsport-wheel-stand-by-fanatec
• https://www.ebay.com.au/usr/epman_au (knobs)
• https://www.gteye.com.au/
• https://www.bunnings.com.au/ (never-ending need to get something DIY)

Nice Ass.etto!

I decided to see if I could record what all this PC master race stuff is all about. After all, for years, I've been a PS player with PS2, 3 & 4 being cornerstones of my late-night gaming.

But I won't be buying a PS5 I think. And the reason is that with games like Rfactor2 and Assetto Corsa the amount of content available to keep the games fresh is going to far surpass the need to buy another console. And that's before mentioning AC Competizione or "I'll eat all your resources" as it's better known.

But of late I've been courting Assetto the hot lap simulator. In fairness the AI is robust, it's just that I like driving, and this game is great for that.

So behold, a quick lap in a car that is amazing and a track that I'd never heard of before an episode of Chris Harris Drives.

The track is known as Charade: https://www.racingcircuits.info/europe/france/charade.html
The car is a singer (3.8), I'll confess to using the content manager app to rectify the sounds, it had way too much bass rumble. Now sorted.

Anyway, enjoy:

Very nice indeed, not least as I'm trialing a new knob. As it were. I'll post up some shots and a write up of "how to make your sim environment rock for next to nothing" soon. Certainly, I've got more than a basic G29.

And all of this is why I'm sticking with a PC. And even Project Cars 2, which I lived on with the PS4 is now on the PC, and I think that PCars3 will be on here too - once it's on sale...

Down and out

And so it passes faster than a smoked kipper, chilies and cream.

The GTLD server in ACC is no more. It was short-lived, and really not very active. And we've found that it was easier to just camp onto other people's servers. At least there are other cars on there.

And the most recent race? NASCAR Heat 3 that's what...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/905450/NASCAR_Heat_3/

Why?

Because it was cheaper than my typical Maccas order that's why. For the princely sum of just under $8 we've got some of the finest left-hand bends in America, served up with a finely tuned 4-speed gearbox.

But it's a good laugh, and worth every cent, if not a cent more!

Hard to tell from the real thing I think you'll agree (if you skip past 'hover car' etc)...

And there's even a fourth version that's all-new, except the rules, cars, tracks, and menus.

Marvelous.

Competizione one

I do like a bit of Jimmy.

And recently he's been putting out some great content, not least his joining a league and taking on some pretty good racing. In ACC.


I'll admit I planned to skip watch it, but ended up watching the whole race, it's hard to look away!

Here's the league Jimmy is racing in: https://actrollvision.com/ Plenty for all, though I suspect it'll be a long time (never) till I get to the same standard!

ACC See!

So it begins anew...

Following a few months of joining the PC master race, we've landed on...

• RFactor2 - Great but a biatch to set up for multiplayer
• Automobilista - Great arrive and drive racing, but dated for sure
• Assetto Corsa - Yes, as everyone says a great hot lap simulator
• and...
• Assetto Corsa Competizione - We're in love with ACC.

But, most of the servers at our level are 20 mins practice, 10 minutes qualifying and 20 minutes race. The race is fine, but it makes for a 50-minute session. For us that's quite the investment in time and really only two races in a night.

What to do then? Well, I went here:https://streamline-servers.com/ and rented an ACC server for the princely sum of around $9.40 a month. High roller I think you'll agree.

What have I done with this... well, I've set up a server that has events as I want them, hopefully, a few others too!

Essential differences:

• No Practice time
• 15 Mins Qualifying (maybe change to 10, we'll see)
• 20 Mins Race
• Weather changeability set to 1 - I think that means no rain, but generally some action
• I'm running the qualifying on one day and race on the next. Apparently, it simulates interim races so it should give more track grip.

In fact, not sure if it'll show but this:

{

    "track": "nurburgring_2019",

    "eventType": "E_6h",

    "preRaceWaitingTimeSeconds": 80,

    "sessionOverTimeSeconds": 120,

    "ambientTemp": 26,

    "trackTemp": 30,

    "cloudLevel": 0.30000001192092898,

    "rain": 0.0,

    "weatherRandomness": 1,

    "sessions": [

{

"hourOfDay": 12,

"dayOfWeekend": 1,

"timeMultiplier": 6,

"sessionType": "Q",

"sessionDurationMinutes": 15

},

{

"hourOfDay": 15,

"dayOfWeekend": 2,

"timeMultiplier": 5,

"sessionType": "R",

"sessionDurationMinutes": 20

}

I'll be changing the track, though as we'll probably be doing three races in a night max I'll probably leave it on one track for the evening and then go from there. If there are racers on I'll leave the server running, no reason not to!

Some points for anyone reading this far:

• I'm doing this to get quality racing - so as our safety racing raises I'll be setting this higher (it's a paltry 49 at the moment). It's set to 35 at the moment.
• If it's a punt fest I will just give up - there are other games out there, but I think this will be fun.
• I'll promote the server around the place a bit, if we get it running right I'll start a league (again!) and run some private races so we can have mandatory pit stops etc.